Cerbera handling and PAS Pump replacement

[Snake278]

Hello, as you can see on the picture my PAS pump is looking bad... and my steering rack is leaking.
The result is that I feel i'm driving a super tanker.


To improve the handling I am thinking to do two things:
1) An electric PAS conversion, and I would like to know if anyone have some advice on this, or some sort of "How to" guide ?
Do I leave the old pump "in situ" or should I remove it ?
What kind of relay should I put (I heard of a 30A relay)

2) Replace my wheels ( 18" Spider ET42 with 235/40 front and 245/40 rear) by those :


Ultralite UL52 114.3 8" ET35 front (with 225/35 tires) and 9" ET35 rear (with 255/35)

What do you guys think of this ?
Can I have a 35 offset for the rear wheels without making any modification ?

[FarmyardPants]

35 offset may be a bit low for 9" rears. I can fit 33 offset spiders on the rear of mine, just about (some find they rub). Assuming that is the limit, the spiders are 8.5" (I think) which equates to 39 offset for a 9" wheel (half an inch extra width, a quarter of an inch ie 6mm, each side, so you'd need 6mm extra offset to maintain the outer rim in the same position). In other words any less than 39 offset would stick out more than the Tuscan rear spiders. You might be better with a 45ish offset rear. Happy to be corrected

[Snake278]

Thank you for the answer, initially I was looking for ET35 because I heard the RL17 had this offset, but they might be 8,5" (not sure)
I was happy to find good looking (IMO) and reasonably priced alloys that could fit my car, now I have to look for alternative

[pmessling]

The pumps not that hard to change having just done my own. Fitted a Land Rover defender one from Brit part. The rack isn't complicated seal kit £50 but you do need a few special tools as the end cap can damage the threaded end. M45 x 1.5 tap if you have any taps handy I got one from Germany to help me rebuild mine. The inside seal is the hard part I Soaked mine in thinners for a week which has soften the rubber enough to get a tool I made underneath the seal to push the seal out without damaging the cylinder bore.


My first attempt wasn't successful but the inside seal is easily damaged when putting the rack bar back in as the serrations of the gear damaged it which I learnt from. I've rebuilt my original rack and have pressure tested it and not leaked so happy to put this back in.

[Snake278]

Is the pump doable with the engine In situ ? I have heard different thing in here.
Do you have a part number for the seal kit and the special tool (or a place to buy them).

[Shanksy87]

My rack blew the pinion seal and had a seizure UJ. This lead me to believe the pump was toast based on steering feel.

I'd recommend refurbish your rack (I used Kiley and Clinton), checking the UJ's and replacing the copper washers on the high pressure pump outlet before writing it off.

[Snake278]

Thanks for the advice!
I will try that.

How much did you pay for the rack ?

Edited by Snake278 on Wednesday 6th April 19:38

Edited by Snake278 on Wednesday 6th April 21:30

[philip600]

Hi, I've just fitted these exact wheels & tyre combination to my 2004 Cerbera, the car handles much better & turn in much sharper, probably due to offset on front wheels being more suitable & the fact that the 225 tyre fits an 8" rim better than the 8.5" rim. ( Spiders are all wrong for Cerb no matter how good they look )
The rears however do rub a little ( brand new tyres ) so I'm going to look at doing a little re-shaping of the inside of the arch. ET39 or so would be better but not sure they are available ? You'd need to watch clearance on inside too if going to 9" wide. It does seem to differ from car to car though, it maybe due to how the fibreglass has been layered & probably suspension set up, ride height & geometry, spring rates etc Some seem to run these sizes with no issues though & they look great.
Phil

[Snake278]

Do you have a picture of your car with those alloys ?
All I could find is a Cerbera with the Atec 1 and I'm curious about how they look.

Edited by Snake278 on Thursday 7th April 04:32

[Shanksy87]

Kiley and Clinton do rack refurbs for £295+VAT, with a new end cap at £45+VAT as an extra if the original strips. My came back looking and feeling like new, very pleased.

[sonnylad]

GT engine number showing there

[philip600]

Snake278 said:

Do you have a picture of your car with those alloys ?
All I could find is a Cerbera with the Atec 1 and I'm curious about how they look.

Edited by Snake278 on Thursday 7th April 04:32

Haven't taken may pics yet, this is probably the best.
Phil

[Snake278]

sonnylad said:

GT engine number showing there

Is that something rare ?
I have the car for six years now but just thought it mean it was a 4.5l


Thank you for the picture of your car! Thats looking great.

[HarryW]

Snake278 said:

sonnylad said:

GT engine number showing there

Is that something rare ?
I have the car for six years now but just thought it mean it was a 4.5l

I thought as the engine serial number still had 42 in it GT just designated it as a 4.5, happy to be corrected.

[Snake278]

I think you are right, I have always read it that way.

[pmessling]

Here is the special tool i made. Made it easier to remove the inner cylinder seal without damaging the bore as it can be used from the other end of the rack, Although it helped soaking the seal in thinners for a week to break down the rubber allowing the tool to get under the metal part of the seal. Plus a bit of heat heating the end up to get the point to melt its way in.



The three pin flange has to be swapped over as well as the one supplied with the brit part has a deeper front could be reduced with a grinder, instead of pulling it off, i managed to break one.

The brit part pump needs the threaded holes drilled to clearance, plus the rear needs smoothing out to allow the bottom bolt to go through



New pump in with lines, was a pain lining the pins up doing it blind but persistence paid off



There is a how to i done in the how to guides.

[Snake278]

Where did you get these heat protection you have on the your PAS lines ?

Today I finally get the steering rack out


Next thing on the list is a full front wishbone replacmement


I should receive them next thursday.

I already have some Motul Ester and NTK Lambda sensor ready to be fitted, I still need to calibrate one of my two sets of injectors.

My fuel line is divided in two, is that normal ?



Spare Throttle bodies, if anyone is looking for a set.

Edited by Snake278 on Saturday 9th April 17:43

[pmessling]

Demon tweeks sell it

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/heat-shie...

I was lucky enough to get it from work as they were throwing it out.

How longs the wish bone been like that?

[Supateg]

Fuel line is not normal, looks like half has been replaced, renew and put it inside some fire sleeve to reduce vapourisation when hot.

Hth

[pmessling]

Your rack coming out mine going back in.